The Rather Unique Curse Bearer
by Denthew
Summary: "Bearer of the curse, seek souls b-" "Stop calling me that" "Pardon?" "I've asked you countless times to stop calling me that, I have a god damned name." "My apologizes, bearer of the course." "You see...This is why we don't talk more often." The personality of my dark souls 2 character given a story.
1. And so it begins

Things betwixt.

For many, it is the home of a constant beginning.

The beginning of a journey. A journey countless of souls share and seek to conquer. Countless souls, all once confident in step, staring at their one goal with unbridled determination in their eyes, but evidently, stepping into the abyss hoping for their journey to finally have reached an end. All of them, failed. Their goal, their hopes, their journey, their selves, all once a spark of emotions, constantly bringing joy and sadness, solidifying the humanity they once felt. These feelings once so strong and apparent, now gone...

Hollow.

It's said to happen to them all. Seeking a journey in a place called Drangleic, seeking the cure, hoping to be the one with the will to be the next monarch, only to succumb to the curse of the undead. The curse of those known as hollow.

Yet there exists hope for these poor lost souls, there is hope in one, a bearer of the curse. A common among the bunch, yet as common as this hero may be, her journey is long, terror filled, and the single uncommon among the bunch.

"Ya know. Just for that, I'm gonna become a god among men and go through this life changing journey, possibly changing history, and maybe even killing a god, all without dying once. Ya know why? Cause I'm not a hollow, and I'm never gonna be a hollow, I'm a person, and that's not changing you old dried up witch." And here our hero stands, in the face of the ancient holders of wisdom known as the fire keepers.

"...Pardon?"

"You heard me, you're talking to me as if my destiny is some book that you wrote and gave to a bunch of people all over the world that they took as fact. It's not. You say I'm gonna gather a bunch of souls, die, lose them, then go hollow. You're, at the core of it, saying I'm gonna disappear forever like some clumsy little idiot. Fuck you. I'll become all powerful, I'll become the strongest, without dying, to prove you wrong. Fuck you."

Our hero, a tall woman with fair, pale skin, hair as black as the abyss, and eyes as green as an emerald, stood there, staring down defiantly at the old keeper, with a stance the showed off the barest of detail about her. Details like her blush red cheeks, contrasting with her pale face, or her puckered red lips, perched in what seems to be a permanent scowl.

Her body evenly sized, head and all, lacking muscle, yet being poised in a way that it almost seems as if her slim figure is made for combat.

Silence loomed for moments on end.

"...Hue, hue hue hue hue! HUEHUEHUE!"

Breaking the silence, one of the last ancient fire keepers reaction to likely one of the most disrespectful things she had been exposed to in a very long time, was to burst into a fit of uncontrolled giggles that sounded eerily similar to a crow.

"My oh my...A hollow with a mouth, well aren't those rare. What was your name again? Lilith, correct? Well then, Lilith, if you manage such an incredible feat, nothing like "I almost did", then I'll tell you what. You'll have earned something on that day, you'll have earned mine, and my sisters, respect. Something very rarely given. Now as fun as a conversation with you would likely be, please, scurry off now, I'd like you to fail in your task as soon as can be, to show you're soon to be mindless self how wrong you were."

The newly named Lilith huffed in irritation and began her treck into the outside world, opening the door in the fire keepers small home, she turned back, lifted her sword, pulled down her hood and spoke.

"Honestly your respect is meaningless, once again, fuck you." And with that, our hero, Lilith, walked off, ready to start an adventure, partially to rid herself of a curse, and partially to prove an old hag wrong.

Chapter 1: Bearer of the curse

Lilith, after immediately leaving the small building, stopped herself and took a moment to look at a small patch of sand with a broken sword sticking out of it, right in front of the fire keepers home. An oddity just out in the open.

"...And what, pray tell, is that? A failed sandcastle that someone got mad at?"

Having quietly asked herself that, Lilith decided to figure out the answer to her own question before she actually began her journey.

Lilith slowly walked up to the strange sight, cautiously, she lifted a gloved hand to give a light grasp on the hilt of the blackened sword, to see if she could pull it out and examine it further.

PHWOOSH

Lilith jumped back in shock, nearly tripping in doing so, taking a moment to stare down the newly lit fire.

"...Drangleic is almost guaranteed be a strange place. You don't see patches of sand that light on fire everywhere."

Lilith quickly regained her composure and carefully started walking back towards the newly lit bonfire, feeling strangely drawn towards it. She stopped in front of the bonfire, feeling inclined to sit down and enjoy the warmth, and inadvertently doing so.

"This...This feels great. Feels like all of my worries are gone. Feels like I was never stricken with a curse in the first place. Feels like a that strange sense of calm you get before a storm...Damn it that's not good." Deciding not to linger anymore after spending a minute enjoying the warmth, Lilith stood back up and started walking into the cave opening, deciding to, finally, start her journey.

After walking a moment, Lilith came up to a patch of land that seemed to spread off like branches, choosing to simply ignore all of the fogged gates that they led to, she decided to simply continue on her journey, saving the, in her opinion, unimportant areas for a different time, or not, depending on how everything played out from her point of view.

Reaching the end of the main path, Lilith started walking through a newly discovered cave, exiting shortly after to come face to face with a beautiful, sunny, area with what seemed to be a run down village In the distance.

"Finally, some light, brightens my mood up. Maybe this will be easier than I thought. Maybe the hag was just delusional, she's certainly old enough for that to happen."

(Mild flash forward to an unspecified time for comedic effect)

"FUCKING HELL! YOU FOUL BEING NOT EVEN WORTH THE SHIT THAT I'VE STEPPED IN, STOP STABBING ME AND LET ME GET MY SOULS! GODS SMITE YOU! I HATE YOU WITH THE MOST UNHOLY OF PASSIONS. JUST DIE ALREAD-AH...Fuck...I'll come back and brutally murder you..."

Fwoosh

And she was gone.

(Thank you for your time.)

"Yes. That's probably it. Just a woman too old for this time...Well let's get going."

Lilith began walking down the very apparent path, seeming to ignore anything that lies in the road, available for the taking. Just continuing down the short path.

Arriving in the town, Lilith spotted another one of those strange sand sword places, but decided to ignore it for now and walk into the building to her immediate left. Arriving inside she was greeted to the first person, aside from the fire keepers, that she'd meet in this land.

"Well hello there sad looking man."

The quote on quote "sad looking man" peered his gaze up from the ground to look at the woman in front of him.

"Err, oh, hello there! W-welcome, to my shop. I-I'm Maughlin, and I sell armour. Oh, sorry, I… Please, do have a look at my wares. I could really use the business… If you'd be so kind…"

Lilith lifted an eyebrow at his rather timid way of speaking. "Mhmm. Well looks like I was right in my assumption. Well as much as I'd like to give you my business, I've got no currency. At all. But, I don't feel like leaving a sad little man like you to be here, sitting, very clearly depressed for some unknown reason. So..."

Lilith sheathed her schimiter that she had been constantly holding in case battle arose, and plopped down onto the ground.

"Tell me Maughlin the sad man, why are you sad. Tell me about your sad story."

Gaining a very light blush, Maughlin began to speak, mildly stunned from Lilith's manner of speak.

"Uh, umm. What would you like to know?"

"How should I know, that's what you're supposed to tell me. What would I like to know about you, Maughlin the sad armourer. Wait, where have my nonexistent manners gone, before you continue, I should probably introduce myself. I am Lilith, swordsman of...Wherever I was born. Just call me Lil though."

"Oh, um, nice to meet you L-lil. Well where should I start. I came from the west, from Volgen. Have you been there? It's a lively place, vibrant with trade. Very competitive, of course. And y-you have to grease the wheels to get anywhere. But I didn't have the funding for that, so I left home in hopes of striking gold. It's been years since then, and I've… well I've made very little headway…hah hah. I don't even know why I'm still here… Everything's all run-down and dying… It's t-terrible for business, really…A group calling themselves the Blue Sentinels have gained much power in Volgen. You can't even run a shop without their blessing. They claim to be working for the greater good, oh…but it's absolute hogwash. Hmm…Oh, by the gods…Why the hell am I here?"

After having finished his short lived rant, Lilith stood up, started stretching to get the stiffness of sitting out of her system, and she began to speak.

"Quite a vague story Maughlin. Quite a vague story indeed, as much as I'd like to give some inspirational speech about "hanging in there", I can't really, I'm not the most inspiring person. So for now I'll just say, I wish you the best Maughlin, and I'll be sure to buy some armor once I've earned myself some souls via brutal murder of my fellow undead. Good luck with life until then."

And with that, Lilith walked out of the small armorers shack and took a quick glance around. Spotting the the mansion to her left, she walked up to it and pulled on the handle.

"Damn. Locked."

Deciding to move on to the next building, she walked up to the door, and pulled it open, wondering what kind of unique individual would be in this building. Mayhaps a blacksmith of great confidence, or possibly a sorcerer who hated their father, it was surely another interesting fellow like Maughlin with another interesting story.

'Oh! Maybe it's a an ancient being who...A cat. It's a cat'

"Oh…Undead, are we? And one without much time remaining. Just about ready to fall apart, I'd say. Not exactly the time to be chatting with a cat! Well, suit yourself. Oh, yes, you may call me Shalquoir. Enchanté. So, what did you want, anyway? Ooh, you smell wonderful. Hee hee hee…"

Lilith lowly rolled her eyes and spoke under her breath. "Sounds just like the fire bitch."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

The cat stood up from it's spot on the only table in the building and took a moment to stretch out her limbs.

"So what's your story talking cat?"

"Call me Shalquoir, I do rather like my name more so then the title of "talking cat". And I don't have much of a story. I'm just a cat who happens to sell rings to all the interesting people who pass through Majula."

Giving a slight nod of the head, Lilith, still not having any currency to buy those previously mentioned rings, chose to move on.

"Ok I'm just gonna leave then. Talking cat with magic rings is a bit too much for me at this moment. I promise we'll get acquainted once I've gotten used to...The idea of you."

Walking back outside the building, and pushing the door shut, Lilith started another quick trek to the first thing that had caught her eye when she had walked into this little town now identified as Majula. The strikingly similar bonfire in the seemingly center of the town.

"Well let's see if all these strange sand pits light up like a pyromacer with a wooden staff, or if the witches just have a weird secondary fireplace."

Walking up and putting her hand to the blackened hilt yet again, she watched as, yes indeed, these strange bonfires were a common occurrence and not just some weird item on Things Betwixt's porch.

"...Ok this is adventure is getting dull, I really need to find something to feed my ever expanding bloodlust. Get some actual action."

Looking around, Lilith spotted a large gate like door, just begging to be explored. "And that's my cue."

Lilith started sprinting to the door, ready to finally get some action going on in this journey of hers.

Quickly running down the stairs after passing a strange contraption, pulling the lever up the stairs on the side of the gate she arrived at, then jumping down and starting to run again, Lilith found herself facing a hall at the end of the little water way. Going with her gut, she slowly walked down the corridor, unsheathed her schimiter, and eventually reached the end of the curved hallway.

"Oh by the fucking gods."

And there it stood, the first enemy for Lilith to have come upon. A giant knight in aged green armor, that seemed to have spotted her.

Walking backwards in blatant fear, Lilith stopped herself before she even realized she was retreating. "Damn it. I'm not gonna wuss out like a bitch cornered..."

Giving a renowned sigh, Lilith raised her blades and gave a short, quiet shout at the giant of a knight.

"Let's go you giant hollowed trash can!"

Lilith worked up some courage and ran straight towards the knight, praying that it was weaker than it looked.

Taking a single, strong, running slash at the hollowed warrior, a train of thoughts and mild worries soon followed along,

'What will it feel like when I revive? Where will I end up? What's it even like to die as a hollow?'

With a sword impaled directly through her chest, these were the thoughts traveling through Lilith's mind.

"Oh no. That old hag can't find out about this can she?"

And with that, Lilith faded into dust, to be revived in a later moment.

Line break

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	2. Meeting the neighborhood

As light fades, and dark consumes, the very being of a person clings to the light that they had been known to embrace.

Scratching, clawing at the very essence of their being as it's slowly ripped away.

And yet, even with the strongest of grips, a being cursed can not ever hope to be fully free from the grasps that hold them.

The grasp a hollow knows well.

Such is the case with our hero and so many others.

"Ughhh...Where the hell am I?"

Wearily blinking her eyes open, Lilith covered her weakened eyes to block out the over encompassing light that is the sun.

Taking a moment to regain her bearings, Lilith slowly sat up from the sprawled out laying position that she previously resided in.

"Oh. Would you look at that, I'm green again. Yay."

Glancing down and taking in her ghoulish appearance, Lilith gave a mild sigh of irritation and clasped her head into her hands, attempting to refocus her thoughts and vision.

"Ok. Second fire place thing. I guess I'm back in Majula."

Lilith took a moment to silently stare at the calming fire after removing her eyes from the grasp of her own hands, relinquishing her thoughts to the small flickers popping from the fire.

Pausing a moment to gather the last of her thoughts, Lilith slowly and crookedly stood up.

"There's something incredibly calming about that fire, I'd really like to figure out what that's all about."

Finally regaining her bearings, Lilith took a moment to recap her adventure thus far, and to plot her next course of action.

"Well that was awful. Incredibly so. I suppose I shouldn't rush in like that again. I should probably ask the sad man exactly how much that armor costs. First though, I should probably prac-"

Stopping the ramblings that she spoke to herself mid sentence, Lilith took a glance around, finally noticing the three other people she had missed on her first stop in Majula, specifically, the red head giving her a expectant yet questioning look from not too far way.

"On second thought, I should first stop talking to myself so often and so loudly...And see if these people have any useful advice they'd be willing to share with a random traveler."

Deciding to first introduce herself to the questionable red head, Lilith walked up to her and stood next to the tree the woman was starring at. Mistakingly expecting her to speak up first, Lilith ended up standing next to the woman, in front of a tree, silently, for a near two minutes, just watching the gentle waves of the nearby body of water.

Finally deciding to break the silence, Lilith began to speak,

only to be beaten to the punch by the previously mentioned silent woman,

"Are you…the next monarch? Or… Merely a pawn of fate? Bearer of the curse… I will remain by your side. Till this frail hope shatters… Take this with you. May it ease your journey. Go on, and see the King. He who made Drangleic what it once was; he who peered at the essence of the soul. King Vendrick."

Transitioning her eyes quickly between the outstretched hand and the covered eyes of the woman, Lilith decided to give her two cents on the woman's abrupt subject matter.

"Well...That's a good start for the "god among men" part of my journey. So I guess that's my goal now."

Casually grabbing the bottle from the still outstretched hand, Lilith started to examine the lowly glowing bottle that contained some mystery liquid fog.

"Ok... A couple things lady. First of all, names not "bearer of the curse" it's Lilith. Just call me Lil though.

Second, what in the 4th level of hell is this fiery looking drink? And third and finally, who are you and what the actual fuck made you want to give some random hollow you just met this bottle and an unlikely goal that could probably get me permanently killed down the line?"

Giving a slight raise of the eyebrow, mystery woman responded in a rathe polite manner when considering the rather straightforward and bizarre way of speaking Lilith used.

"You may refer to me as the emerald herald, I will help you along your journey. That bottle you possess is an estus flask, it will heal the person whose drank from it, if you ever feel the need, you can refill it at a bonfire like the one you awoke from a moment ago. And I give gratitude to meet you Lilith, bearer of the curse."

"...You did that on purpose."

"I beg your pardon, bearer of the curse?"

"...Well I've known you for roughly 3 minutes and I already hate yet respect you, and I'm not even completely sure if it was intentional on your part. I'll just leave you to your own devices for now I suppose. Thanks for the magic bottle."

Walking away with a small smirk planted on her face, Lilith headed to the next person she could see, the big, burly, beast of a man sitting in front of the cage like door.

"He looks like an interesting individual. Let's hope he gives me some kind of interesting tidbits like Ms. Herald did by giving me the name of the fire places."

Stopping her pace to stand in front of him, Lilith watched as the man silently raised both his head and a single brow at her arrival.

"...Was I talking out loud again?"

His response was a slight nod.

"We'll pretend I wasn't and let's get introductions out of the way."

Lilith lowered herself in a short, courteous, bow.

"Names Lilith. Just call me Lil."

Giving a mild sigh, the man gave a quick, disgruntled response,

"Oh, it doesn't matter, just help me open this door. I packed my tools in here, seeing it was vacant…but now somebody's gone and locked the door."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm a blacksmith. I'm nothing without my tools. Bring me that key. Chop chop!"

Spending a moment of silence just staring down at the man, Lilith walked away, yet again continuing the trend of mumbling to herself.

"Rude in some way. That sums up everyone I've met thus far, well except the talking cat, but then again I feel that's because she has a superiority complex of some kind that makes her talk less to ensure her own half assed sense of superiority. Well then again, I guess I'm one to talk."

Walking up the steps to apparent statue, not far away from the blacksmiths hut, Lilith just hoped the newest person she were to meet atop the stairs would be a little more polite then the previous encounters, or at least had a more interesting personality to go with their rudeness.

"What am I even doing introducing myself to these people, there's a strong possibility this will be my last stop here. I may never see these people again if my next battle goes well and I continue my journey with no draw backs."

With that thought played out in her head, Lilith decided to just continue on with her current objective regardless, she was in no rush.

After reaching the top of the monument and stopping in front of the man silently staring off into the distance atop those steps, Lilith yet again began her introduction.

"Hello depressed looking man. I'm Lilith. There's a very real possibility this will be the only ever time we talk, but hello. Who might you be?"

The man gave a look upwards at Lilith and responded with a dulled out tone.

"You're Undead…aren't you. You have that distinct scent. The smell of irreversible fate. This is Majula. It is a kind of settlement… A place where life is almost normal. And in Drangleic these days, there are very few places like that. I am Saulden. And like you…I lost everything, and now I'm here. You probably heard that it was possible to break the curse here. Well, that's not true at all. There's nothing here, for you, me, or anybody…Do you know much about souls? Even I'm not certain, but…I'm told that the soul is the essence of life itself. Anything living, sentient or no, supposedly has one. What we call the curse is traceable to the soul. Do you see what that means? To be alive…to walk this earth… That's the real curse right there. We Undead will never die. And that's quite a predicament, really…There are four beings in this land with giant souls. And wherever you go from here, you'll sooner or later come up against them. Each has a powerful soul, and a terrible curse…If that frightens you, then you ought to just give up right now. Like I have. Hah hah hah…Do you ever cry out for help? The journey of an Undead is long and treacherous. You'll face invaders from other worlds at every turn. If you need help… Why not proclaim faith in the Blue Sentinels? When you face danger, the Blue Sentinels will come to your aid. Protection is yours, if you wish. You need only accept their kind embrace."

Just giving a mild frown in response, Lilith spoke with a small amount of mirth apparent in her voice.

"Well I was delighted at first because you seemed a lot more polite and easier to please then most of the previous people I've met, and yet I'm also brought down slightly because you are so incredibly devoid of optimism. And by the gods, has anyone ever told you that you seem to have a tendency to get off topic? I asked for your name and you gave me the run down of Drangleic, its abundance of souls, and the, in your mind, impossibility of my own goals. Honestly it's kind of humoring to me, but also incredibly depressing. And while your manner of speak was gratifyingly polite, the message behind it was incredibly asinine."

Turning around and beginning her trek back down the stairs, Lilith yet again spoke.

"But no thanks. I'm confident enough in my abilities. I don't need some knight in shining armor cult. No offense to you specifically. I like you enough to not mean that part as an insult. Oh but fuck you."

Watching as Lilith walked away, Saulden spoke, more to himself than to her.

"I see. Then, you'll have to brave this treacherous journey on your own. If you ever require help, come back any time. I will stay here, and pray for your safety."

And Lilith walked away, finally ready to attempt her fight with the giant knights yet again.

Eventually ending up back at the little hallway that would lead her to the first knight, Lilith readied her blade and took a few calming breathes, preparing herself for her first real battle, the blade to the chest not counting in her opinion.

"Just be calmer this time, he's not THAT big."

Still standing at the beginning of the hallway, Lilith stood there, a range of emotions ran across her face. First a mixture of pride and happiness, then anger, stopping by disgust, then ending on a weak sense of irritation, all specifically directed towards herself.

"That's what she said..."

Giving a sigh of mild disappointment in herself, Lilith started walking down the dimly lit corridor to the first knight for the second time, determined to kill it, or at least die much more valiantly.

"Well I won't need to kill myself for that joke because the giant knight will do it for me."

Reaching the end of the corridor and walking down the broken path, Lilith was soon spotted again by the giant aged knight.

Lifting her blade, Lilith started sprinting towards the knight, jumping into a roll just as the knight tried repeating its previous victory and stabbed at her.

Stopping her roll and standing up right behind the knight, Lilith took two quick slashes to the back of the beast, hoping to end it with those. The knight of course was much too durable, and swung his sword around him, spinning his body in the process.

Yes.

Spinning his body directly into the ocean.

Because while Lilith rolled past him to the solid platform with plenty of room, the behemoth was still standing on the already unstable and constricting walkway.

"Huh...A cheap victory, but I'll take it."

Finally getting a chance to really survey her surroundings, Lilith immediately took notice of yet another bonfire sitting there at the bottom of a short branched off hill of the arena like platform she was standing on, and of course she went to light it, just to calm herself for the next knight that she spotted further down the marble path.

Deciding to stand in front of the fire instead of sit next to it since she had barely wasted any energy, Lilith soon found the entirety of her vigor back and walked back up the previously mentioned hill, only to stop dead in her tracks at seeing the exact same giant knight, that had previously accidentally killed itself, standing there. Perfectly fine. As if nothing had happened.

"How in the...Oh, right. Hollows. Giant hollows, but hollows nonetheless."

Deciding to not question it any further, Lilith once again got into her battle stance and, using the Knights lack of visibility to her advantage, slowly walked over and stood right behind the old knight.

Aiming her blade directly into a small opening in the Knights armor, Lilith pulled back her arm and slashed as hard as she could, only to stop mid hit as the sound of loud, metallic footsteps filled her ears.

Doing a quick turn around, Lilith had little time to jump out of way as yet another knight came rushing at her, giant fucking hammer first.

Taking an exact second to calm herself again, Lilith started circling the new knight, and the now battle ready knight that Lilith had tried to sneak attack.

"One was ok, but this is complete and utter horse shit, that one couldn't even SEE me from where it was standing, let alone bum rush me!"

Wasting her time complaining to herself, Lilith once more had little time roll out of the way of another slash from both the new Knights hammer, and the original Knights blade.

"Ok, I'm getting out of here."

Quickly using up all of her stamina to perform a series of rolls to get past both knights without getting hit, Lilith started running back down the path to the most recent bonfire, fully intent on jumping off the little piece of land and swimming back to Majula.

"I wanna be back in Majula, I wanna be back Majula. No place like home. No place like home. Wait I don't live in Majula. Screw it, I live there now, I can't remember where home is anyway."

Sending a silent prayer to the gods, Lilith closed her eyes and started running, hoping her jump was long enough to make it into the water from where she stood, having to jump because of the Knights long sword taking a swipe at her from her immediate behind.

Taking the leap of faith from where she stood, Lilith had one thought as she flew through the air.

'Back to Majula. Just wanna be back in Majula."

And she misjudged her distance, landing right into the bonfire, disappearing in a small flash of estus smoke, unintentionally disappearing to exactly where she wanted to go.

LINE BREAK

And that's chapter two. Good? Bad? Ugly? Needs improvement? Tell me about it. Via review. Or just like it or follow it.

Of course there's also the possibility that you can ignore all three options, but then again, you are on chapter 2, so you probably like it in some way, be a pal and do one of the three.

Anyway, little side note, not only is the story based off my character, it's also loosely based off my first play through.

It was my first time playing dark souls, they looked intimidating, and I thought there was some kind of swimming system, so I just jumped right off the edge.


	3. Getting gud

The Emerald Herald enjoyed the quiet. She enjoyed the relaxing cackling of the far fire, and the quiet contemplation that usually occurred in the minds of her fellow residents that followed on quiet days, She enjoyed the breeze and the warmth that she could more easily focus on with no sound to cloud her mind. The Emerald Herald adored the peaceful mindset she would always fall into when silence was present.

Yes, the Emerald Herald could say for certain, in this world full of violence, and with her duties as the Herald, constant in the back of her mind, the quiet was definitely one of her few gate ways while she was waiting for the day the true monarch came to free the land of its sorrow.

"Agh! Fuck! My everything! FUCK! Ow! My damn leg! Why was I so high up! How did I even get here! Oh gods. MY LEG IS BROKEN! IT'S FUCKING BENT CLOCK WISE. Now I have to kill myself to get rid of the pain, because this newly discovered BONFIRE TELEPORTATION BULL SHIT MAKES ME HIGH UP IN THE AIR, and the world thinks that my PAIN is SOOO incredibly funny! FUCK YOU EARTH! FUCK YOU!"

Which is why she had mixed feelings on the new monarch candidate.

On one hand, Lilith seemed like she had real potential, she seems like she may actually be the person to help her fulfill her destiny, she was a very friendly, albeit rude, durable person, and she seemed incredibly determined, which was a good combination in this deadly land, and that truly brought her hope. But on the other hand...

SPLASH!

"Oh, She actually killed herself."

Needless to say, The Herald decided to just be polite with some minor passive aggressiveness on occasion to find humor in her quickly fading peaceful quiet time.

As Lilith faded back into existence at the bonfire, the Herald decided to give her another nudge in the right direction.

"Leg? Check. Both feet? Check. Fully intact eyeball? Check. Ok I'm good. Well I'm never using the bonfires tele-bull shit again."

Carefully standing up from the bonfire, Lilith addressed the approaching Herald. "Don't even know why they would have a stupid painful system like that. Oh, Herald. Hey there. Whadaya need?"

Stifling a small laugh from the whole ordeal, The Herald gave the future monarch some much needed advice.

"Bearer of the course, the bonfires way of travel works in a rather unique way. It works based on emotion and the distance it's used from, I may be assuming, but I'd say rather confidently that this won't happen again if the next time you use the Fires travel, you relax yourself and let the flames calm your soul."

Giving a small nod at the Herald, Lilith showed a quick, appreciative smile. "Oh, well thanks Herald. Guess it makes sense. I did jump into it under a pretty decent amount of stress. Well that'll be useful."

Hopping back up to her feet, Lilith dusted herself off and started a mild walk back to the Knights tower before stopping herself and turning back around.

"Oh right, I don't need to walk there this time."

Going over and placing her hand on the far fires hilt, Lilith focused on where she remembered the bonfire she recently found in the tower was located at, then turned once again to the Emerald Herald.

"Thanks again Em, this'll definitely be useful."

"Wait. Bearer of the curse, if I may make a suggestion."

"Hmm? What's that?"

"When you slay one of the Knights again, come back here and let me see the souls you've collected. I'd like to use them to help strengthen your soul, and ease your journey in doing so."

"Sweet. Thanks Em! Then I guess I'll be back after I brutally murder a couple of green men!"

And with that, she was gone. Disappeared in a flash of estus smoke.

"Hm. Em...I like it."

And so the Herald went back to enjoying the silence that came with Lilith not being present.

Appearing back at the tower of flames bonfire, Lilith took a moment to regain her bearings and focus on her task.

"Ok, let's try a different approach this time." Putting both hands on the hilt of her sword, Lilith walked back up the short cliff to the knight.

Deciding not to try the sneak attack route this time, Lilith rushed the knight and rolled past him as the knight took a thrust at her.

As the knight attempted to get an attack on her by continuously turning and slashing, Lilith cautiously and quickly circled around it until it eventually stopped its unsuccessful barrage to recover its footing. Taking that as an opportunity, Lilith rushed in and slashed at it's back three times before rolling back as the knight got back into it's battle ready stance.

Continuing this pattern three more times, with only a minor scratch and some heavy breathing to show the battle had happened, Lilith took the final blow at the now very apparently roughed up knight.

"Well it wasn't brutal murder, but it was murder nonetheless."

Waiting as the knight faded away and the it had held souls travelled into her body, Lilith took a look around for the next knight, the one that had caused so much trouble for her last time.

Spotting it at the top of the short stair set, seemingly staring at her, Lilith began preping herself for the fight.

"I really hope dead things can't feel emotions, that stare makes me feel intimidated and I'm gonna break its face in for that."

Walking up the stairs, Lilith reached into the pouch on her back and pulled out,

"Please be strong enough to brake its armor."

A firebomb.

And it wasn't.

"Great, it's pissed.", strengthening her grip on her sword, Lilith ran at the hammer wielding knight, expecting it to slash at her like the last one did with its sword, side to side, only to be severely disappointed as it smashed her into the pavement when she tried rolling past it.

Quickly getting back up through the pain, and possibly cracked ribs, and rolling behind it before it could get another shot in, Lilith ran around it and jumped back down the stairs.

Using the time it would take the knight to get down the stairs and swing at her again, Lilith started her preparation.

Sheathing her sword and pulling out the flask the Herald had given her, she chugged its contents, healing a majority of her injuries in doing so, and went into her pouch and pulled out three more firebombs. As the knight was halfway down the steps, Lilith threw all three bombs at the knight at the same time, knocking it down onto its back. Taking that opportunity, Lilith pulled her sword back out, ran at the fallen knight, jumped, and plunged her sword right into the Knights chest before dragging the blade right up through its chest until it passed right out its head.

Standing back up, Lilith watched as everything but a small patch of mysterious dust in a jar and a pair of, strangely much smaller than they should be, gauntlets faded into a mixture of dust and souls.

"And that right there is why I'm a badass. Oh sweet, a free pair of stronger gauntlets."

Quickly discarding her regular weak leather gloves for the aged iron gauntlets, Lilith continued her train of thought. "Well I should probably go see what Em meant by "bring me your souls for strength" or whatever it was she said."

Deciding to do that after she killed one more knight, Lilith walked up the secondary flight of stairs, spotting the knight that stood atop it.

That is, after she looted the dead body that was next to the stairs for a human effigy of course.

Not wanting to lose her souls like she had when she been killed by the duo of Knights, Lilith decided to take a cautious route. The Emerald herald said they could make her stronger after all, and she could really use a bit more bang for her buck against these things.

Slowly walking up to the knight wielding a sword and a shield, Lilith Stopped once the knight visibly reacted, walking towards her with it's shield raised. Once it finally got close enough and went in for a strike, Lilith went into action.

Rolling past its right side, Lilith watched as it copied the original Knights attack pattern and spun it's body with each attack.

It copied its pattern a little too much however, because once again, it spun itself into an early, watery grave.

"Well, cheap victory is still, and will always be, a Victory."

Deciding she had enough souls to participate in whatever the herald had in store, Lilith headed back to the bonfire, intent on getting some armor while she was at it.

Eventually making it back to Majula, Lilith immediately went up to the Emerald Herald, an expectant look on her face.

"All right Em, what's the deal? How ya gonna make me stronger with these dead people?"

"Bearer of the curse, if you'd please kneel."

"I'll kneel when you come out as straight."

Reeling back with a small blush brightening her face, The Herald decided to clarify her request a bit more.

"Ahem. Lilith, I need you to kneel for a short ritual. The ritual will convert your current souls into a type of essence that will strengthen you in aspects that you feel, at your very core, need to be improved. When you kneel, it allows easier distribution of the souls. My apologies for any misunderstanding I may have caused."

Pushing a strand of hair out of her eye, Lilith gave a quick sigh and spoke, "Open with that next time."

Kneeling down in front of the Herald, Lilith closed her eyes and felt as the Herald waved her feather over her head.

Feeling as the souls she held disappeared rapidly, Lilith suddenly felt stronger, more versatile, and strangely smarter.

Silently coming to a stand, Lilith looked at the Emerald Herald with a bewildered look on her face.

"That felt...Strange. I feel...Stronger, and slightly smarter. How do I even tell that I feel smarter. Well whatever. That worked and it was worth it."

Turning around and giving a short wave goodbye, Lilith started walking Towards Maughlins shop.

"Thank you yet again Em, your continuous help, while still unexplained and presented oddly, is still very helpful."

Walking into Maughlins hut, Lilith pulled a handful of souls from out of her chest, slammed them on the ground next to Maughlin, grabbed a red armor top, and walked right back out without saying a word.

"I hope that was enough, don't want him getting even more depressed than he already is just because I'm a cheapskate. I should also find a new weapon, but that blacksmith isn't selling me anything until I get him his key, sooo."

Walking back over and taping her on the shoulder, Lilith asked the Emerald Herald, "Where can I get a weapon that's better than this rusty piece of ogre shit?"

Turning to face her, the Herald gave it a silent moment of thought before giving her response.

"There is word of a traveling merchant who sells a variety of armors and weapons currently residing in the Forest of fallen Giants."

"Helpful as I've found you to be Em...Where's the Forrest?"

"Down that path."

"You're the best Em!" Giving a quick thumbs up, Lilith started jogging down the path to the Forrest of fallen Giants, intent on getting a new weapon to help her take down the Knights with much more ease.

LINE BREAK

Well what'd ya think? Good? Bad? Ugly? Needs improvement? Awful for even existing?

Tell me about it via review!

Also a question for my 5? Maybe 10 readers.

I've got a couple little ideas that I have for this story that I can't really think of a way to fit into the plot.

So my question is, for those occasional sub plots, or side stories, or moments that I can't find a way to fit into the story, would you want me to write them as little extras at the end of whatever chapter I'm writing when I have the idea at.

I'll give a short example of what I mean down below.

Ahem

Straid of Ophis was always, and will always be a prideful being.

He has every right to be too. He was basically the father of modern magic, he was the creator of countless sorceries with the potential to take down entire battalions of Knights after all.

Straid had often been accused of being arrogant, and if he was honest with himself, he was, but once again. He had every right to be.

He was a master sorcerer.

He was a creator of some of the most powerful and most used spells there are.

He was a legend renowned for his genius.

He was Straid of goddamn Ophis

Which is why he'd rather take his own life before admitting to Lilith that he had a body pillow made of her.

Stuff like that, but a little longer.

Well anyway, next one or two chapters will be of the Forrest of fallen Giants. Then after that it will be a wrap up of Heides tower of flame.


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